Star Trek Hunter Ep 17: Terms of Surrender
by RobertBruceScott
Summary: The Imperial Romulan Senate and their Praetorian Guard have captured the planet Vulcan. Justice Minerva Irons heads up the Federation delegation negotiating surrender of the planet and its population to the Romulans.
1. Ep 17x1: Sela

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 1: Sela  
.

17.1  
Sela  
.

"That was too easy… Far too easy…"

Sela stood out - a blonde romulan among a people who were exclusively dark-haired. Her blonde hair came from her human mother, Lieutenant Tasha Yar of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Sela had not been in the vanguard or even the first wave of migrants to Vulcan. She knew well when to lead from in front. The seizure of Vulcan was a time to lead from behind. While it was a priority for the Romulan Star Navy, neither she nor anyone else in the navy wanted to have anything to do with the actual capture of Vulcan. That risk was to be borne exclusively by the Romulan Senate and the Praetorian Guard.

"Can't you just admit that those humans you worry so much about are cowards and that the vulcans actually want us there?" asked one of the more brash young centurions in the council room, only to receive withering looks from those among the older officers who bothered looking at her at all.

"Centurion Cireeka, you are an expert at warp field theory and long-range telemetry, yet unlike most scientists, you seem quite unrestrained in commenting on topics that you know nothing about," said Sela. "That is most unbecoming in a scientist or any romulan. Do not speak further," she added as it appeared the centurion was about to apologize.

Three top admirals were also in the council chamber of Sela's mammoth flagship, the I.R.W. Bestia, the first of the new class of romulan battlegods. Admiral Ritrina spoke up. "It's a trap."

"Of course it's a trap," Sela snapped. "The question is what kind of trap, and for whom?"

"Should we discontinue the resettlement, then?" asked the admiral.

"No," Sela responded. "That is how insidious this trap is. No matter what the humans have cooked up for us, it is still in our best interest to complete the resettlement from Romulus."

"You knew it was a trap before the Praetorian Guard attacked," Ritrina observed.

"Don't be dense, Ritrina, it doesn't suit you," Sela replied. "The Praetorian Guard knew it was a trap before the attack - if you could even call it an attack. Centurion Cireeka, are you listening?" Sela slapped the table. "You won't learn if you cannot focus! NO - do not apologize, just keep your mouth closed and learn something!"

"Should we reinforce the Praetorian Guard at Vulcan with Navy resources?" asked another of Sela's admirals.

"Where would you pull those resources from?" Sela rejoined. "The Klingon Border? The Neutral Zone? Internal resource acquisition and enforcement? Do you begin to see how insidious this trap is? Despite its historical significance, Vulcan is not like Romulus, or Earth, or Bajor. It does not have the resources to support more than three or four billion people at the most and even that probably is not sustainable. The acquisition of Vulcan gets the Senate out of our hair, along with the refugees from Romulus. But it cannot also sustain the Navy. If we push further into federation territory, we open ourselves to klingon attack. If we open a front against the Klingon Empire, Star Fleet will attack. And if we don't sufficiently resource our base here within the empire, we face almost certain rebellion against the Navy."

"Why did they hand us Vulcan without putting up at least the appearance of a fight? Why would they make the trap so obvious?" asked Admiral Ritrina.

"That is a much better question, Admiral," Sela responded. "The vulcans could have inflicted heavy casualties on the Praetorian Guard with minimal risk to their own resources. They could have mined the system, used the planetary defense platforms. They could have drawn the guard ships in close to Starbase 18 before destroying it. They could have waited to destroy the gantries until they were swarmed with breaching landers carrying troops for boarding. Even with Star Fleet pulled out of the Vulcan star system, the vulcans alone could have inflicted tens of thousands of casualties and taken out as many as a dozen warbirds and dozens of breaching landers if they had put up a fight with what they had stationed in the system instead of scuttling all of it just when the Praetorian Guard decloaked."

"It isn't logical. Degrading our resources would have made it much easier for Star Fleet to re-take Vulcan," Ritrina observed.

"That's because they have no intention of retaking Vulcan!" Sela exclaimed. "Ah, this hurts my head! What are they up to? What we need, more than anything, is information. Something is missing. The vulcans and the humans are hiding something and we must find it before they finish springing their trap. I want all our intelligence assets within the rump Romulus population activated. And our resources on Vulcan. We need to put our feet on every inch of that planet and its sister planet, T'Khut – and T'Khut's moon. There is something we just are not seeing from orbit. Get me telemetry on that entire star system. There are two brown dwarf systems nearby, get me everything on those as well. Pull up everything we have on traffic patterns and communication patterns, commerce around Vulcan, everything. We need a thorough analysis on what has changed in the past year and especially in the past few months."

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17.1


	2. Ep 17: Terms of Surrender

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 2: Saoron's Study  
.

17.2  
Saoron's Study  
.

Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic was staying as a guest in the Palace of the Andorian People at Laikan when the crates from Vulcan arrived – thousands of them. Ivromia zh'Ithirith, the newly appointed Seneschal of the People's Palace (as it was commonly referred to) was extremely put out and quite short with Curator T'haru Gonzalez, who had arrived with the crates.

Ivonovic had a quiet word with Seiv th'Stavin, whose star had been rising within the imperial court. The coincidence of Seiv's increasing influence within the court and his friendship with Ivonovic had not gone unnoticed by members of the succession qualified houses of Shav, th'Ravonnette and zh'Ithirith.

.

"Seneschal Ivromia, if it would facilitate your many other duties, I would be happy to see to the proper disposition of these gifts from Vulcan." Courtesy did not come naturally to andorian nobility, so th'Stavin's soft-spoken approach tended to catch most of the Imperial Court off-guard.

"What is your game?" Ivromia zh'Ithirith asked with some disparagement. "What has that human been whispering into your ear?"

"Only that I should seek to win favor with the person who runs all the daily affairs of this hall and knows everyone in it, by completing a task for you that would otherwise dominate your entire day," th'Stavin said evenly.

"I was going to send this…" zh'Ithirith waved her hand vaguely at the hall full of enormous crates, "to be dropped off in the Northern Wastes."

"There will be plenty of time to do that if the emperor so instructs. Until then, there are two levels under the kitchens where our guests can remain warm and the contents of those crates can remain dry."

"The emperor will see no value in these things…"

"If he values them, you will have rescued them. If he does not, then this project is my folly," th'Stavin rejoined.

"So is this how the human is teaching you to gain influence? Give others the credit when things go right and take the blame when they go wrong? They are a strange, strange people," said zh'Ithirith.

Seiv th'Stavin smiled and waited.

"Take them," said zh'Ithirith.

.

T'haru Gonzalez combined the virtues of vulcan thoroughness with human industry and ingenuity. Along with two workers she had brought with her, she used the crates and packing materials to build furniture. Seiv th'Stavin was able to divert a few more workers her way and Ivonovic had additional materials brought in from Earth to create, in four days, using two unused levels below the People's Palace kitchens, a massive library to warehouse a large number of highly treasured vulcan artifacts, but most importantly, well over three million books, which had been sent in and were now displayed in transparent, atmosphere controlled plastic boxes.

Premiere Saoron arrived shortly after the rooms were established. Emory Ivonovic greeted the ancient vulcan leader on his arrival in the People's Palace. Rooms near the kitchens were typically reserved for visitors who required a warmer environment and these were now entirely set aside for the Premiere of the Vulcan High Command and his entourage. The imperial reception was to be held after the entourage was settled into this large number of apartments. Councilmember Ivonovic had been assigned as an official observer from the Federation Council.

.

"I do not find your central role in these things in any way comforting." Premiere Saoron was nearly 200 years old and was in surprisingly good health given his age. His age was evident on his face - his skin was deeply wrinkled and had the look of fine, old parchment, browned with age. He was quite small for a vulcan and completely bald - which was extremely unusual among vulcans and made his pointed ears look oddly large, giving him something the look of a kobold or some other mischievous minuscule mythical miscreant - an illusion amplified by the little old vulcan's bristling energy. But his dark eyes conveyed deep power and knowledge.

"I have not been a mover in any of these events," Ivonovic replied. "I was at court here to advocate for political moves within the Federation Council. It seemed important to me at the time - and may eventually turn out to be vital. But where you and your people are concerned - I hate to admit it - but I didn't see any of this coming."

"I had considered a romulan invasion to be a very remote possibility," mused Saoron. "Evidently, I dramatically underestimated its probability. That combined with the Andorian troubles must have your people in an abnormal pique."

"If by that you mean we are emotional about the fall of Vulcan, yes, saddened, frightened, and furious," Ivonovic replied. "I'm sure you find it terribly illogical and worry that we might react rashly."

"I only wish I could say I was counting on it," Saoron countered. "But as much as I might want Vulcan free, there are billions of lives at stake. Logic tells me we can neither afford a frontal assault nor to admit defeat. There is a high probability that if my people knew how much I am putting their fate into your hands, and the emperor's, my selection would be vigorously challenged."

"Quite possibly your sanity," said Ivonovic.

"After all these years traveling in human circles I still fail to see the logic in humor," Saoron countered.

"You assumed I was joking?"

"I learned long ago never to assume anything where your race is concerned. Alas, Esteemed Councilmember, while I will not miss your banter, it is time for me to go up and… how did you put it earlier… face the music?"

.  
7.2


	3. Ep 17x2: Saoron's Study

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 2: Saoron's Study  
.

17.2  
Saoron's Study  
.

Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic was staying as a guest in the Palace of the Andorian People at Laikan when the crates from Vulcan arrived – thousands of them. Ivromia zh'Ithirith, the newly appointed Seneschal of the People's Palace (as it was commonly referred to) was extremely put out and quite short with Curator T'haru Gonzalez, who had arrived with the crates.

Ivonovic had a quiet word with Seiv th'Stavin, whose star had been rising within the imperial court. The coincidence of Seiv's increasing influence within the court and his friendship with Ivonovic had not gone unnoticed by members of the succession qualified houses of Shav, th'Ravonnette and zh'Ithirith.

.

"Seneschal Ivromia, if it would facilitate your many other duties, I would be happy to see to the proper disposition of these gifts from Vulcan." Courtesy did not come naturally to andorian nobility, so th'Stavin's soft-spoken approach tended to catch most of the Imperial Court off-guard.

"What is your game?" Ivromia zh'Ithirith asked with some disparagement. "What has that human been whispering into your ear?"

"Only that I should seek to win favor with the person who runs all the daily affairs of this hall and knows everyone in it, by completing a task for you that would otherwise dominate your entire day," th'Stavin said evenly.

"I was going to send this…" zh'Ithirith waved her hand vaguely at the hall full of enormous crates, "to be dropped off in the Northern Wastes."

"There will be plenty of time to do that if the emperor so instructs. Until then, there are two levels under the kitchens where our guests can remain warm and the contents of those crates can remain dry."

"The emperor will see no value in these things…"

"If he values them, you will have rescued them. If he does not, then this project is my folly," th'Stavin rejoined.

"So is this how the human is teaching you to gain influence? Give others the credit when things go right and take the blame when they go wrong? They are a strange, strange people," said zh'Ithirith.

Seiv th'Stavin smiled and waited.

"Take them," said zh'Ithirith.

.

T'haru Gonzalez combined the virtues of vulcan thoroughness with human industry and ingenuity. Along with two workers she had brought with her, she used the crates and packing materials to build furniture. Seiv th'Stavin was able to divert a few more workers her way and Ivonovic had additional materials brought over from the United Earth Governments embassy to create, in four days, using two unused levels below the People's Palace kitchens, a massive library to warehouse a large number of highly treasured vulcan artifacts, but most importantly, well over three million books, which had been sent in and were now displayed in transparent, atmosphere controlled plastic boxes.

Premiere Saoron arrived shortly after the rooms were established. Emory Ivonovic greeted the ancient vulcan leader on his arrival in the People's Palace. Rooms near the kitchens were typically reserved for visitors who required a warmer environment and these were now entirely set aside for the Premiere of the Vulcan High Command and his entourage. The imperial reception was to be held after the entourage was settled into this large number of apartments. Councilmember Ivonovic had been assigned as an official observer from the Federation Council.

.

"I do not find your central role in these things in any way comforting." Premiere Saoron was nearly 200 years old and was in surprisingly good health given his age. His age was evident on his face - his skin was deeply wrinkled and had the look of fine, old parchment, browned with age. He was quite small for a vulcan and completely bald - which was extremely unusual among vulcans and made his pointed ears look oddly large, giving him something the look of a kobold or some other mischievous minuscule mythical miscreant - an illusion amplified by the little old vulcan's bristling energy. But his dark eyes conveyed deep power and knowledge.

"I have not been a mover in any of these events," Ivonovic replied. "I was at court here to advocate for political moves within the Federation Council. It seemed important to me at the time - and may eventually turn out to be vital. But where you and your people are concerned - I hate to admit it - but I didn't see any of this coming."

"I had considered a romulan invasion to be a very remote possibility," mused Saoron. "Evidently, I was wrong. That invasion combined with the Andorian troubles must have your people in an abnormal pique."

"If by that you mean we are emotional about the fall of Vulcan, yes, saddened, frightened, and furious," Ivonovic replied. "I'm sure you find it terribly illogical and worry that we might react rashly."

"I only wish I could say I was counting on it," Saoron countered. "But as much as I might want Vulcan free, there are billions of lives at stake. Logic tells me we can neither afford a frontal assault nor to admit defeat. There is a high probability that if my people knew how much I am putting their fate into your hands, and the emperor's, my selection would be vigorously challenged."

"Quite possibly your sanity," said Ivonovic.

"After all these years traveling in human circles I still fail to see the logic in humor," Saoron countered.

"You assumed I was joking?"

"I learned long ago never to assume anything where your race is concerned." The ancient vulcan sighed heavily. "I am not looking forward to playing my part in this plan of yours, Esteemed Councilmember. But the time has arrived for me to go up and… how did you put it earlier… face the music?"

.  
7.2


	4. Ep 17x3: Vulcana Regar

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 3: Vulcana Regar  
.

17.3  
Vulcana Regar  
.

The uniform armor worn by the Praetorian Guard was very similar to the brocaded fabric armor worn by the Romulan Star Navy with the exception that the guard used a light, sand color instead of the dark, iron gray of the imperial navy. These light tan uniforms were out in force in every city on Vulcan, the guardsmen in them subjugating the local populace, controlling their movements, confiscating computers, jamming communications, rationing water and electricity, and confiscating their food for rationing. Vulcans, their human family members and their vulcan/human hybrid descendants who resisted were turned out of their homes and relocated to tent cities.

.

Sub-Commander Nikato was an unusually large and heavily muscled romulan with a jaw so massive it affected his speech. He had learned to speak very slowly and loudly to make certain he was understood. He had a heavy brow-ridge and eyebrows so thick he had to brush them regularly to keep them out of his eyes. He had overcome childhood deformities that caused him to walk with a shuffling, lumbering motion and made it difficult for him to turn his head without also turning his shoulders. All this, combined with his legendary physical strength and violent temper made Nikato a terrifying figure and he used that terror to keep his guardsmen in line.

He had been given the job of subjugating Vulcana Regar, the largest city on Vulcan, home to more than a million vulcans, humans and hybrids, and now nearly a quarter of a million romulans. It was an enormous responsibility to hand to an officer whom many in the Praetorian Guard felt was a mentally deficient brute. But Nikato had steadily been promoted and had brought along a cadre of loyal officers who had followed him up through the ranks.

.

Sub-Commander Nikato walked out of his headquarters in the Vulcana Regar city administration building to find a few guardsmen had shackled well over twenty children to a long chain and were handling them roughly. Some of the children were crying in terror. Most of the children were observing and obeying with stoic resignation.

.

"STOP!" Nikato roared, rage evident on his malformed face.

.

The guardsmen froze at the sound of Nikato's voice.

The children froze – those who had been crying stopped crying and stared at the huge romulan in stark terror.

The centurion who had followed Nikato out of their headquarters froze.

Several guardsmen and civilians who were repairing a building further down the street froze.

People inside buildings within a radius of three city blocks froze.

A few birds overhead paused in mid-flight…

.

Sub-Commander Nikato lumbered over toward the children. He towered over the guards and few of the children came up further than to his waist. He squatted down to his haunches, reached out a hand, poking a guardsman in the belly. "Key!"

The guardsman dropped a key into Nikato's enormous hand. The giant sub-commander unshackled a young boy who had been crying and was now trembling, staring wide-eyed at the monstrous romulan in front of him.

"Come here, little warrior," Nikato said gently, holding his arms out.

With an evident inner struggle, the boy overcame his fear and walked into Nikato's arms.

Nikato effortlessly lifted the boy, stroked his hair. "Do you want to go back to your parents?"

The boy nodded, still clearly terrified.

Nikato stood up with the child in his arms. He turned to his guardsmen, speaking slowly and loudly, his words slurred slightly due to the deformity in his jaw. "These people are not yours to round up and do with as you please! We are one people, vulcans and romulans. One people. One destiny."

"Half of these children aren't even vulcan," one of the more courageous guardsmen replied. "That boy is human."

"Are you human, little warrior?" asked Nikato.

"My grandfather is," the boy replied. "I'm mostly vulcan."

"You heard that," Nikato said to his guardsmen. "These people are vulcan. Vulcana Regar is my city now. I will not have any rebellions here." Nikato turned to the centurion who had followed him out of their headquarters. "Centurion Javel, spread the word. If any guardsman harms a child of this city, he will be stripped, striped and sent naked to the desert these people call the Forge. Tell them I will wield the whip personally."

"Shall I tell the civilians too? This rule applies to them as well?" Centurion Javel asked.

"Tell the civilians too, Javel. The children of this city, all the children of this city are under my protection. No matter the shape of their ears or the color of their blood." Nikato waved a large, dismissive hand at the offending guardsmen. "Now get these… animals out of my sight and find some actual romulans to take these children back to their homes."

Javel turned immediately to summon guardsmen from other duties nearby.

The boy in Nikato's arms had become frightened again at the anger and power in the enormous romulan's voice. Nikato stroked his hair again, spoke softly: "It will be all right, little warrior. Tell me how to get to your parents' house." The boy shook his head. "You don't know? Then we will walk until we find it."

.

Sub-Commander Nikato wandered off with the child in his arms. He turned and lumbered down a residential street as the young boy pointed the way.

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17.3


	5. Ep 17x4: Facing the Music

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 4: Facing the Music  
.

17.4  
Facing the Music  
.

Emperor Sin IV was clad in his State robes - blinding white embroidered with silver over white ablative plate armor. The State Room in the People's Palace, like all formal rooms in any andorian building, had no furniture. There were no ledges around the columns in this room to be used as tables because food and drink were not taken in the State Room. The marble floor was black around the edges of the room, gradually lightening in color to white and sloping up to the Imperial Dias, on which the emperor stood.

A large orchestra of andorian musicians accompanied the entrances of the emperor and official visitors with fanfares played on deep pitched horns, gongs and bells in addition to a fairly large choir.

Only State visitors were announced, which, on this occasion, was limited to Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic and the Premiere of the Vulcan High Command, Saoron. Following protocol, Ivonovic, as the lower ranking visitor, was announced first. He approached the emperor, who was standing, subtly elevated in the center of the room. The blind emperor acknowledged Ivonovic with his antennae.

A moment later, when Premiere Saoron was introduced, Emperor Sin IV turned his back. Two andorian guard soldiers stepped forward and quickly and rather roughly shackled the elderly little vulcan. He offered no resistance as they lifted him up and carried him out.

Emory Ivonovic forced himself to watch. A year ago he would not have cared about an antique vulcan being mishandled by andorian guardsmen.

The andorian guard quickly arrested the remaining vulcans in the room along with the vulcan/human hybrids who had made up the majority of the vulcan delegation. Some of these were indistinguishable from vulcans. Others were indistinguishable from humans. By the time all the arrests had been completed, only three non-andorians remained in the State Room - Emory Ivonovic and a couple of ferengi bankers. Ivonovic stayed only as long as protocol required. At the appropriate time he made the appropriate parting with the emperor's company.

As he backed out of the State Room, as protocol required, Ivonovic could feel the vast gulf between himself and the blind andorian emperor. He had built an alliance with this extremely dangerous creature, but it was an alliance of convenience. They were not friends. They were useful to each other. Ivonovic had built such alliances before, with cardassians and ferengi. But never with anyone so powerful or dangerous as Sin IV.

.

The People's Palace was one of the oldest buildings in Laikan and the cloakroom was an afterthought, added centuries after the initial construction for those aliens who required additional protection from the bitter cold of Andoria. Emory Ivonovic wrapped himself in a thick black scarf and black overcoat, donned a dark gray fedora and stepped out into the blistering cold. While the andorians were among humanity's earliest interstellar allies, neither humans nor any other aliens were a common sight on the streets of Laikan, Andoria's capital city. Just throngs of andorians.

Everywhere Ivonovic looked, there were pale blue antennae writhing about, seemingly independent of the facial expressions and activities going on just underneath them. It was as though Andoria were home to two separate species – pale blue people who were too thin and walked strangely and another race of somewhat menacing antennae that lived on their heads. The sight of all those writhing antennae was making him feel nauseous.

.

Ivonovic made it from the People's Palace to the United Earth Governments embassy. There was also a United Federation of Planets building, but he trusted Earth security more. Even in this building, there were more andorians than humans. Ivonovic could not look at them any longer. He found a bathroom, made it to the urinal and threw up. It took several minutes for him to recover, washing his face, looking at himself in the mirror. It was just the shock of remembering just how treacherous these aliens could be. He was amazed he had forgotten – started to think of them as if they were human. Kenny Dolphin had it wrong. People didn't hate hybrids because of some perception of an unfair genetic advantage.

.

They hated hybrids because they weren't human.

.

Ivonovic found his way to a secure communication booth. "I need to send a secure message, audio only."

The communication station replied with a feminine computer voice: "Please enter your three hundred, twenty seven character passcode, followed by the pound key."

Ivonovic entered his passcode, then pounded the appropriate final key.

"Welcome, Councilmember Emory Ivonovic. Secure messaging system enabled, Federation Council security protocols in place. Whom would you like to message?"

"Council Leader Ushi Irons."

"Confirmed. You may record your message now."

Ivonovic took a deep breath, then said:

.

"It's done."

.

He took another breath. "End message. I need to open a subspace communication, shore to ship."

"Federation Council security protocols remain in place. To whom would you like to speak and on which vessel?"

.  
17.4


	6. Ep 17x5: Battle Scars

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 5: Battle Scars  
.

17.5  
Battle Scars  
.

As often as possible, Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin and 2nd Lt. T'Lon shared an evening meal in the director's lounge. Lt. Tauk was with them on rare occasions, but he tended to retire early as he was easily exhausted due to his lung disease. Dr. Moon Sun Salek and Ensign Ethan Phillips had been with them often recently, but this evening Moon and Philips both had bridge duty. Dolphin and T'Lon were alone.

It had been nearly two months since the assault on th'Istel and T'Lon had not had restorative surgery to repair the scar on her right cheek or replace top half of her right earlobe. The trail of the phaser burn could be easily followed from her cheek to her earlobe, the remainder of which had been instantly cauterized. Dolphin could not help but wonder where the other half of her earlobe might have gotten off to. He couldn't picture T'Lon or anyone else collecting it and keeping it for all this time. He also had a hard time picturing her leaving it on the ground.

.

"Actually, in all the fighting and chaos, it got stepped on several times," T'Lon said, answering Dolphin's thought.

Dolphin laughed. It evidently did not require a mind meld for her to follow his thoughts, only tracking his eye movements. "Sorry," he said, still chuckling quietly. "That's actually quite a grim mental image – people trampling all over your severed earlobe."

"I saw no point in retrieving it," T'Lon responded. "It was all bloody and nasty from having been trampled. But I had no desire to leave it behind so that someone could easily obtain a sample of my DNA. Or more likely, for a rodent to snack on…"

Dolphin spat his drink out and choked as part of it came through his nose. "You timed that deliberately," he managed between coughs.

"Are you going to recover?" T'Lon asked.

Dolphin coughed a few more times. "Whoever said vulcans can't deliver a punch line… Yeah, I'm fine. So you didn't want to keep it or leave it there…"

"I vaporized it with my phaser. There was just a green smudge-mark left from the blood."

.

"I was wondering why you never got it… Um… fixed," Dolphin said, hesitantly. "I'm sure Sam or Chrisssiana or Napoleon could do a nice repair job in twenty minutes or less."

"You're not the first person to ask. The glib answer I give everyone else has to do with being a physical education and safety instructor. If I am teaching basic phaser safety, you can imagine my students would pay more heed to my words," T'Lon ran her finger across top of the remaining portion of her earlobe. "I'm not screwing around here… When I say phasers can be dangerous…"

"You're a vulcan comedian…" Dolphin intoned.

"But seriously, folks," T'Lon said dryly, earning another laugh from Dolphin. "I don't know why I keep it. Since you and I incorporated what was left of T'Lok into our personality matrices, I have found the world makes more sense when I don't demand for it to make so much sense. If that makes any sense at all. It's something T'Lok used to say that never made sense to me until now. It just feels as though covering up the scars would be… false somehow. Inauthentic."

"You have certainly become more garrulous since absorbing part of T'Lok," Dolphin observed.

"Only with you. In a way, talking with you feels a little like talking with her. Which, I suppose is a bit like talking to myself."

.

They both took a few bites, enjoying their meal for a moment in silence.

.

"Has anyone asked you what your reaction is to the fall of Vulcan?" Dolphin asked.

"Only you," T'Lon replied.

"I only asked if anyone else had asked."

"It was implied."

"So what do you make of it?"

"The only time I ever went to Vulcan was with you. That trip saved our sanity. Now that vital resource is inaccessible," T'Lon said. "But it isn't as though the romulans took Hawaii. Although I do have grandparents and great grandparents on Vulcan. And other, more distant relatives."

"We'll take it back," said Dolphin.

"At what cost?" T'Lon asked.

"We let them take Vulcan without firing a shot. I think we did that so we could take it back without firing a shot."

"I do not see any way that could happen," said T'Lon.

"I think Minerva does," Dolphin responded. "Think about it for a moment. The Romulan Star Navy is estimated to be down to about 300 functional capital ships and most of those are at least 20 years old. That's less than the Klingon Empire and not even half the size of Star Fleet – not counting the various homeworld fleets. They had to be relying on the Praetorian Guard for some level of security. That's about 40 capital ships. 40 ships is enough to protect Vulcan from an all-out assault by Star Fleet, but that ties those resources down on Vulcan. The romulans are overextended. A skilled negotiator should be able to wring one concession after another out of the romulans in exchange for holding off both Star Fleet and the Imperial Klingon forces. You know they've already tapped Minerva as one of the lead negotiators."

"But that would mean that the romulans would keep Vulcan," T'Lon objected.

"That's the part that I don't get," Dolphin replied. "On a chessboard, this is a brilliant move. We sacrificed our queen and trapped the enemy. But politically, economically, ethically, this is a disaster. Can you imagine any member world trusting Star Fleet again if we just walked away from one of the three founding worlds? Not only that, this is bound to split the Federation Council right down the middle."

"Surely it is logical enough? You don't think the vulcans did this?"

"I know vulcans," said Dolphin. He traced his finger across T'Lon's battle scar, across the roughened edge of what was left of the top of her right earlobe. "Better than you know yourselves. There is no way the vulcan people would have agreed to this."

"Vulcan is not a democracy," T'Lon responded. "It is a meritocracy. Don't you think Vulcan's best and brightest might have devised this scheme?"

Dolphin shook his head. "Star Fleet would never have agreed to it. On ethical principles alone."

"Star Fleet pulled out the entire 6th fleet," said T'Lon "I recognized the names as some overly enthusiastic lieutenant commander was reciting them."

"Star Fleet was tricked. Somehow. I don't know how, but I'm going to find out."

"Not to belittle your investigative abilities, Lieutenant Commander, but how are you going to conduct such an investigation? How do you plan to assemble the resources?" T'Lon asked.

.

At that moment, the comm system came alive, bringing Ensign Ethan Phillips' voice into the director's lounge: "Lieutenant Commander Dolphin, there is a call for you."

Dolphin unconsciously looked up as he responded. "Thank you, Ethan. Please put it through."

"Justice Irons has requested you take the call in her office."

"Who is the call from?" Dolphin asked.

"Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic," Phillips replied

Dolphin got up, thumped the table with his finger, looked at T'Lon. "That's how…"

.  
17.5


	7. Ep 17x6: Prodigal Sum

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 6: Prodigal Sum  
.

17.6  
Prodigal Sum  
.

The space around the A Boo star system was crowded with Star Fleet vessels in addition to the immense number of freighters and smaller commercial shipping. Then there were the swarms of Trantor Police Monitors – the city had nearly doubled its fleet over the past year and had invested in larger, heavily armed, escorts and cruisers. Two new star bases were under construction and a vast network for shipbuilding had sprung up in near solar orbit. Eleven of Star Fleet's new Prowler class ships were using the A Boo system as a base for their patrols. Because of the system's strategic location, Cun Ling had instantly become a critical staging platform for defense of both Earth and the Andorian Empire from further romulan aggression and for monitoring the ongoing assimilation of Vulcan by the Romulan Senate.

Because of the renewed hostilities between the federation and the Romulan Star Empire, the R.R.C. Prodigal Sum had all kinds of difficulties entering the A Boo star system… officially… But the Prodigal Sum had one distinct advantage. It was a scavenged romulan craft with a still active romulan registry number and had, among other things, a fully functional cloaking device.

.

Instead of docking with the U.S.S. Hunter, both the Prodigal Sum (still cloaked) and the Hunter landed on a large, mined-out asteroid, which there was no shortage of in the A Boo system. Pomm Irons, a massively obese, bearded bajoran, clad in a EVA suit, opened the port hatch of the Prodigal Sum, creating the odd effect of a doorway into a lighted interior of a ship in the middle of empty space about four meters above the surface of the asteroid. Since the asteroid had very little gravity, both ships were clamped to the surface using their landing gear.

Hunter opened the starboard hatch and waited. Although he was exposed to the vacuum of space, since he was a holographic projection, he did not require an EVA suit.

Pomm activated a control on the left arm of his EVA suit and a gun of sorts lowered from just inside the hatch he had just opened. Pomm touched another control and the gun fired a low velocity missile directly into the Hunter's open hatch. A cable was attached to the missile at one end and the top of the Prodigal Sum's door frame on the other.

Hunter caught the missile and unfolded it. It was a grapple. He attached it firmly to the top of the ship's starboard hatch.

First Justice Minerva Irons, then Pivin, then Dr. Tali Shae, each clad in full EVA suits with harnesses that clipped to the cable using "O" rings, stepped out of the U.S.S. Hunter, pushed very gently against the Hunter's hull and zip-lined down into the open hatch of the R.R.C. Prodigal Sum.

The inner doors for the airlocks on both ships closed and both ships went dark, leaving the U.S.S. Hunter nearly invisible due to its native camouflage and the R.R.C. Prodigal Sum completely invisible thanks to its cloaking device. The cable between them, too small to register on any but the most detailed scan, seemed to be suspended by nothing at either end.

.

"Much, much larger than the Prophet Motive," Justice Irons observed, appreciatively, looking around at the interior of the Prodigal Sum. Pomm had completely redesigned the interior.

"Two great rooms, ten staterooms and a separate kitchen. And of course bridge and engineering," said Pomm. "In all, it's almost half the size of the Hunter."

"I take it you cannot run this ship by yourself – even the two of you," Irons remarked.

"We have taken on a couple of engineers for room, board and a share of any profits," Oarama Irons replied.

"My talented but impecunious brother and his far more talented wife," Pomm added.

"Are they ready for the dangers of your chosen life?" asked Tali Shae.

"We all grew up in the bajoran resistance," said Pomm. "They're both well experienced with living on the edge. But at least if we go down in this yacht, we will go down in the lap of luxury. It belonged once to a romulan general. Or so I was told when I sunk nearly all of my savings into it. It took weeks to renovate it to this condition."

"I never thought I would set foot on one of these," Pivin said. "I don't think there were more than a dozen or so ever made."

.

At that point a bajoran couple entered from the back of the great sitting room.

"Justice Irons, Dr. Shae, allow me to introduce my brother, Brema Garro and his wife Ameye," said Pomm. "Garro, Ameye, Justice Minerva Irons, Dr. Tali Shae and our primary charge, Pivin the Betrayer."

Brema Garro looked like a younger and much slimmer version of Pomm Irons.

"We have fresh springwine and I'm afraid not much else to offer at the moment," said Ameye.

"That would be refreshing," Irons said. "I haven't had springwine in quite some time. It doesn't keep well and we've not been near Bajor recently."

"I fear I must spoil everyone's fun," said Pivin. "I would love to live aboard this fine yacht for the remainder of my days, but I must go to Vulcan. We need to know far too many things. The status of Saketh and Gamorlan, what this invasion has done to the relationship between the Praetorian Guard and the Romulan Star Navy. We have to know who the players are and if there are any that can be turned."

"That is incredibly dangerous work," said Tali.

"That has been my life's work for nearly 20 years now," Pivin replied.

"How are you going to get… oh, thank you Ameye," Tali said as Pomm's sister-in-law handed her a glass of springwine. For a moment silence settled in the sitting room as its occupants enjoyed the light, sweet flavor of the alcoholic bajoran beverage.

.

After a second glass, Tali started again. "How are you going to get onto Vulcan? You would be captured the moment you beamed in. They would just redirect the transporter beam."

"I've been running Pivin for almost a decade now," Pomm interjected. "With your help, we should be able to get her onto Vulcan the same way she got onto Vengeons-Roux."

"That is far too risky," Justice Irons objected. "Those suits have a 50% failure rate."

"You don't think I'd let my wife or Pivin jump in a suit I haven't checked out and modified?" asked Pomm. "I've manufactured new suits that are a dramatic improvement on those old Maquis artifacts. Those things had a 50% failure rate."

.

"You said you will need our help to insert Pivin onto Vulcan," Irons said. "I am still quite dubious about this plan. It occurs to me that on a planet with two or three billion people, someone might spot a flying romulan."

Pivin spoke up: "There is an identity in the records of an Imperial Intelligence Control operative named Pinith. I chose the name because it is close to Pivin. With the central records repository destroyed, that identity may still be valid. I accomplished quite a few misdeeds under that name."

"You know there is no talking Pivin out of this mission - if you know her at all," said Oarama.

Irons sighed. "I know. And she is right, we must have that information. But oddly, I have grown rather fond of Pivin and I have lost a number of people I am fond of recently. What do you need us to do?"

Pomm smiled. "You aren't the only one who will be nervous about this. It is easily the most dangerous mission we will ever have run with her. The cloaking device on this ship is old. If we warp into Vulcan space - or anywhere near, they will see the energy signature and find us in seconds. But if we warp in on the Hunter's bow, and drop out of warp simultaneously, it will just be a small part of the energy signature of a new ship type they have little experience with. Once we're moving at sublight speeds, the cloak should be completely effective. So we need you to get us into vulcan space and for someone else to get us out after we retrieve Pivin. Um.. Pinith, that is…

.

As easily as Irons and Tali had zip-lined down from the Hunter into the Prodigal Sum, because there was almost no discernible gravity on this asteroid, it was just as easy for them to zip-line back up into the Hunter after kicking off gently from the hull of the Prodigal Sum - in fact it gave them the illusion that they were traveling down, as if the Prodigal Sum had been parked on higher ground. Another crewmember, also clad in an EVA suit, assisted Irons and Tali into the hatch, then detached the grapple, folded it and with extreme precision, dived out of the Hunter's hatch, making a straight line to the open hatch of the Prodigal Sum, carrying the grapple, cable in tow.

Pomm Irons, again in his EVA suit, was braced to catch this living missile from the Hunter. He retrieved the grapple, carefully recoiled the cable and reinserted the grapple into the grapple gun, setting it back up above the hatch before sealing the hatch. Once the outer airlock door was closed, the Prodigal Sum was, once again, entirely invisible.

.  
17.6


	8. Ep 17x7: The Commission

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 7: The Commission  
.

17.7  
The Commission  
.

"But Rear Admiral Chekov…"

"No! You do not know that. You have no facts. That's why we must begin an inquest. No hearsay about which admiral might have ordered what. We need documents. We must have testimony in open session." Councilmember Emory Ivonovic had the floor in full council and for once Ushi Irons could not muster the votes to force him to sit down. Nearly everyone on the council wanted answers to the same questions Ivonovic was asking.

"How did Vulcan come to be stripped of all defenses?" Ivonovic continued. "What happened to the 6th Fleet? What happened to Vice Admiral Senvol? Why was Starbase 18 scuttled without firing a shot? There were literally thousands of photon torpedoes on that space station - enough to place at least 100 around each warbird. Who ordered two full wings of Vulcan's heavy interceptors to warp to Pillo where they were not needed? Who stripped Vulcan of all its defenses? How did Star Fleet hand Vulcan over to the Romulan Star Empire? We cannot rely on Star Fleet to conduct their own investigation into the greatest failure in their history. We must have a commission to get to these answers…"

"If the councilmember will yield for a motion to create his commission!" Council Leader Ushi Irons finally said in frustration.

.

The United Federation of Planets Council Room was one of the most secure rooms in one of the most secure buildings on Earth. It was an opulent room rich with colors and fabrics that could be appreciated by the many different species that came together to make decisions for the federation. Representation followed population patterns, so well over half of the 360 representatives were human.

The room was arranged roughly in a circle with the majority of seats arranged in a semi-circle facing the podium. About 20 seats were arranged in a semi-circle behind the podium at which Ivonovic was speaking. The seats behind the podium were informally reserved for the unelected leadership of unofficial coalitions. Ushi, as the Council Leader who most often set the agenda, was seated directly behind Ivonovic.

Emory could see Ushi's flash of anger reflected in the surprise and startle reactions on the faces in front of him. Ushi had served on the council for more than 40 years and had earned a reputation for emotional self-control. Emory turned slowly to see Ushi standing behind him. Under the ridiculous long white beard and masses of long, straight white hair, was the perfect mask of Chinese inscrutability. But the simple fact that Ushi was standing was surprising enough.

Ivonovic took a long breath, then slowly stepped aside. "I yield to the esteemed council leader."

Ushi approached the podium. Emory's unofficial seat was near the back of the room.

"I move we create a commission to review the role of Star Fleet and other parties in the fall of Vulcan," Ushi said from the podium. "And I nominate Councilmember Ivonovic to chair the commission. Finally," Ushi said as Emory stopped in mid-step on his way to the back bench, "the commission will need a rules committee to set the rules for the commission's proceedings and oversee its activities to ensure the rules are followed…"

.

A few hours later, Emory Ivonovic was in his office, enjoying a drink with Seiv th'Stavin, who was now serving as a staff aide to one of the councilmembers from Andoria. Ivonovic made a point of keeping favorite drinks from several worlds, including andorian ale, which Seiv was partial to. Ivonovic only drank ice water. The comm on the desk took a breath - it was Joanna's voice from the outer office - "Councilmember, Council Leader Irons is here to see you?" Joanna sounded deeply puzzled.

"Well is he or isn't he, Joanna?" Ivonovic asked.

Ivonovic could hear Joanna take a deep breath. "Yes sir, he is definitely here."

"Is there a reason you haven't sent him on in?"

"Yes sir… umm… no sir… that is…"

"I'll just see myself in, thank you, Joanna," came Ushi's deep, odd voice, followed immediately by the man himself opening the door and walking into Emory Ivonovic's office for the first time.

.

Ivonovic and th'Stavin both stood up immediately.

"May I offer you a drink, Council Leader?" Ivonovic asked.

Ushi Irons brushed his long, wispy white beard with his left hand. "Do you have kanar?"

"Very fine kanar, or so I am told," Ivonovic responded. "But I have to admit I'm amazed you like it. Cardassian beverages are a bit of a learning curve for the human palate…"

"I have no desire to try it," Ushi said with only a hint of a smile. "I will take a glass of ice water, if you don't mind."

Seiv th'Stavin poured a glass of ice water from a carafe, offered it to Ushi. "Alas, esteemed Council Leader, I must be going."

"Yes," Ushi agreed, taking the glass. He waited until the door closed behind the ambitious andorian bureaucrat before taking a seat in the chair th'Stavin had evacuated.

"I was surprised you nominated me to chair the commission," said Ivonovic, taking a seat in an arm chair nearby. "But you will be watching over me on the rules committee - when is the last time you personally chaired a committee?"

"It's been 27 years since I served on a committee. Consider this a kindness."

Ivonovic raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know you had it in you. Vulcans are emotional basket cases by comparison to you. Or so rumor has it."

"I am part vulcan," Ushi observed. He cast an eye to a bookshelf behind Ivonovic's desk. "You seek wisdom, Emory Ivonovic. There is an old Zen koan you should review." Ushi took a drink, set his glass down, then stood up to leave. "It is about a dog that chases an automobile." The white-haired veteran council leader gestured to Ivonovic's collection of books. "You will find it in Irony - A Zenner's Guide by John Shoji Sorensen*. I take my leave of you."

.  
.

*John Shoji Sorensen is an elderly Zen priest I correspond with and occasionally argue with on Facebook. I greatly enjoy his wit and wisdom and have encouraged him to write A Zenner's Guide (he demurred.) Name used by permission. rbs

.  
17.7


	9. Ep 17x8: Implant

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 8: Implant  
.

17.8  
Implant  
.

At the top of Mt. Kur at'la Kiur, poisonous fumes spat upward in bursts of hot steam, pushing their way up through the hardened magma inside the crater. Red hot magma seeped from the sides of the volcano in thick, narrow streams slowly inching toward the rich, fertile valley below. This was a mountain rarely climbed except by overly adventuresome seismologists - one of three semi-active, stable volcanos that surrounded the valley of Nal'shin, the richest, most fertile valley and most strategically valuable location on Vulcan. Nearly a billion people depended on the food and organic materials from this valley - more than a third of the planetary population.

Near the summit, a small, elderly romulan woman took apart most of her EVA flight suit and used its materials and electronics to build a radio transmitter tower. Hidden in the smoke rising from a vent on the side of the mountain and powered by its heat and movement, the tower was designed to relay signals from a remote embedded in her hip and transmit them along a specific frequency as a sequence of static bursts.

.

Slowly and carefully, Pivin made her way down the side of the smoking mountain, carefully avoiding the streams of magma that crawled down the side of the mountain in small, blazing threads into a river below, enriching the valley with minerals.

Pivin entered the valley from the rear. Armies had tried this and failed during the warring period nearly a thousand years ago, but one person could blaze a trail where armies could not. "Jolan Tru, Uhlan," she said to a startled romulan guard in a tan uniform.

"You are not supposed to be here!" the guard barked, pointing his disrupter rifle at her, only to have it smoothly and easily taken away from him and leveled at him.

"Steady, Uhlan. Give me your name."

"Jeteet…"

"Citizen will do, you need not know my name or designation," Pivin said. She deactivated the disruptor rifle, spun it quickly and expertly in full Praetorian dressage (which was distinct from Star Navy dressage) then handed it back to the guard. "Have a care not to point that at your superiors. I will allow you be my honor guard, but not my captor." She remained uncomfortably close to the guard as he took the rifle from her in some confusion. "You have not returned my greeting, Uhlan. Please do not be discourteous."

"Ah," the guard took a breath, then said, "Jolan Tru, Citizen."

"Better. You may take me to the Proconsul now."

"This way," the guard replied. "Is Proconsul Nirrume expecting you?"

Pivin caught the slight hesitation after the word 'Proconsul.' She had to be expecting this. "Considering that Fort Aba'kur is not under the protection of Proconsul Nirrume, he will be quite disappointed if he is." She looked at the pennant flying over the ramparts. She could barely make it out - could be one of two as she reviewed heraldry in her mind… She pointed at it. "That is the pennant of Sekeeto…" she saw Uhlan Jeteet's shoulders tense… "the Younger."

Pivin took a breath as the guard relaxed and led her to the ancient vulcan fort.

.

"My apologies, Operative." The sub-lieutenant who had checked Pivin's ID code was exactly the type of person Pivin had expected - a professional security officer, trained at ferreting out people just like Pivin. Trained in recognizing facial surgery and no doubt trained to recognize specific faces - like the infamous Pivin the Betrayer. Romulans were resistant to telepathy to begin with, and security officers were specifically chosen for their resistance to any form of mental control. But he had one critical disadvantage - he was young.

"None of the communication about you indicated you were a deep cover operative," he said. Nothing in his training had prepared him for her file – which she had embedded in the system long before the destruction of Romulus. Well before this sub-lieutenant had joined the Praetorian Guard. Possibly before he was born.

Pivin favored the sub-lieutenant with a level gaze and let him work it out for himself.

"But then… I suppose it wouldn't be deep cover then…"

Pivin continued looking at the officer. He didn't realize it, but this was the most dangerous part of her mission.

"Right hand," said the sub-lieutenant. He patted a box on his desk. This box was designed to take a sample for DNA recognition. Or it could inject a poison that would kill Pivin instantly. Or a truth serum. Or a sedative. It could also simply chop her hand off.

Pivin did not hesitate. She felt two needles penetrating her ring finger and another plunged into her wrist to take a sample of her marrow. Pivin kept her face composed and pushed her hand slightly forward. There was a sudden surge of pain as the needle that took a sample of her marrow planted something inside her bone. This was what she had come here for. She waited a few heartbeats before retrieving her hand.

"Staying in Fort Aba'kur long, Operative?" asked the sub-lieutenant.

Pivin remained silent, simply looking at him.

"You may go…" The sub-lieutenant was egregiously overstepping his bounds. Still testing.

"We are not finished, Sub-Lieutenant. I am giving you one more chance to show the proper courtesy," Pivin said. Her voice was calm, her expression composed.

The security officer looked at her for a long moment, then bowed his head, looked up again and said, "Jolan Tru, Citizen."

Pivin relaxed almost imperceptibly, just the slightest nod, then turned and left. She had what she came for. The marker that had been placed in her wrist would track her access to buildings and computer files - but it gave her the access she needed. Now the trick was to appear to be reporting intelligence without getting caught gathering it.

.  
.

* _Jolan Tru, Uhlan_ (Blessing of the People, Guardsman)

.  
17.8


	10. Ep 17x9: The Pitch

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 9: The Pitch  
.

17.9  
The Pitch  
.

The romulan and federation envoys met in a newly established conference center aboard the U.S.S. Milky Way. By agreement, five of the Praetorian Guard's warbirds (the R.R.W. Praesidio, R.R.W. Heros, R.R.W. Vir, R.R.W. Nobilis and R.R.W. Equis) had the enormous new Star Fleet vessel surrounded in blank space between the Vulcan and A Boo star systems.

The U.S.S. Hunter, which had guided the Romulan Senate's warbirds from Vulcan to the treaty location, was present as well, along with 30 of Star Fleet's long range interceptors. Neither the romulans nor the klingons bothered much with this class of small attack craft, preferring to rely on cloaked scout ships instead. This had less to do with technology and more to do with command and control. Fleets of small, two-seat, warp-capable fighter craft would provide too many opportunities for undisciplined adventurers among the klingons and far too many opportunities for defectors and spies among the romulans.

.

By consensus among several powerful individuals, the federation negotiation team was headed by At-Large Appellate Justice Minerva Irons. Her romulan counterpart was Senate Proconsul Vruncleel, the 4th highest ranking Proconsul of the Romulan Senate and one of the youngest assigned to the negotiating team. Their role was to review everything negotiated by the various topic oriented negotiation committees and fit whatever each committee managed to agree on into a larger agreement. They also had the responsibility of reviewing each portion of this larger agreement in light of what the Romulan Senate and the Federation Council would be willing to approve.

The rooms they were meeting in had been created in the port side of the Milky Way among a large block of empty rooms. Appropriate tables, chairs, clearboards and other tools as well as décor were manufactured to furnish these rooms. A large auditorium was created on another deck just below these rooms for occasional meetings of the negotiating group in whole.

The rooms were lavishly decorated with rich tapestries along the walls, designed to emulate well-known, historic romulan and vulcan tapestries. The floors were clad in marble mosaics with similar combinations of historic romulan and vulcan mythology. The furnishing of these rooms represented the height of romulan and vulcan culture. All of these high quality materials and historically accurate artwork were made possible by exceptionally high quality replicators onboard the Milky Way, operated by expert artisans who reproduced and installed these furnishings with meticulous detail.

Justice Irons and Proconsul Vruncleel were meeting in the enormous and at the moment otherwise empty auditorium. They sat next to each other in arm chairs on a raised dais at the front of the room. Each was allowed two security officers in the room with them to serve as witnesses, provide for their needs and provide protection. In addition to the two romulan uhlans, Tactical Specialist Veri Gecki and Chief Tactical Specialist Rumi Grace stood watch at a respectful distance.

.

"So Premiere Saoron refuses to return to Vulcan and surrender to the Senate?" asked Senate Proconsul Vruncleel.

.

The young romulan politician was unusually handsome. His thick, curly, black hair was close cropped instead of worn in the traditional bowl haircut preferred by romulan military services. His clothing was deceptively simple in design but made from opulent, extremely high quality fabrics – a maroon unitard with battle scenes embroidered in gold around the neckline, the cuffs of the sleeves which stopped just above his elbows and the hem that stopped just above his knees, revealing muscular arms and legs. Over this simple garment, he wore a toga made from a subtle interweaving of tan and topaz fabrics that wrapped over his right shoulder, fastened with a golden broach in the shape of some kind of bird and wrapped around his waist, stopping just short of the hem of the unitard underneath – gathered by an equally subtle woven rope about his waist. Bright steel bracelets with gold overlay were matched by similar bracers at the top of soft, brown boots.

Most of the romulan negotiators were clad similarly, choosing various combinations of reds with browns – the only common difference between male and female fashions was that the women gathered their togas over the left shoulder and tended to wear lighter colors under darker colors. Interacting with these fashionable, relaxed and generally young and athletic romulans was a new experience for federation negotiators, who were used to dealing with stoic romulan Imperial military officers in their drab, dark gray brocaded armor.

Even the Praetorian Guard officers were different – their armor was similar in style to that of the Romulan Star Navy, but a light, sand color instead of iron gray. While disciplined, the guardsmen seemed much more relaxed than Imperial forces. Federation negotiators were mostly vulcan or vulcan/human hybrids and wore a broad variety of fashions based on their homeworld or, in the case of the many from Earth, regional fashions.

Justice Minerva Irons had chosen a simple pant suit of unrelieved black silk with an equally simple black blouse – no embroidery or patterns of any sort. She had forgone the robe of her office. This light outfit emphasized her slender figure.

.

"He would surrender himself, but he has been arrested and is being held for trial on Andoria." Irons replied.

"Under what charges?" Vruncleel asked.

"Treaty violation," Irons answered. "The Treaty of Paan Mokar requires each of the signatories to protect their territories from all intruders as surety to the integrity of the other's territory. By surrendering Vulcan without firing a shot, the High Command, in the person of Premiere Saoron, was clearly in violation."

"But surely the Federation Council can require his extradition?" Vruncleel asked.

"The Treaty of Paan Mokar predates the Federation Charter. Emperor Sin IV has made it clear that in his opinion, Paan Mokar takes precedence."

"How inconvenient."

"That would be an understatement as the Andorian Emperor has also made it clear this will be a capital trial."

.

"Ah," Vruncleel mused. He looked down for a few moments, then looked up, introducing a new topic. "I am unconvinced that the Imperial Star Navy should be treated as a third entity in these negotiations."

"Which is why they are not represented here at the negotiations," Irons replied. "This agreement will be between the Federation Council and the Romulan Senate. One democratic republic to another."

"But you are setting as a basic requirement that the Senate must disavow its authority over the Romulan Star Navy," Vruncleel objected.

"That is untrue and you know it," retorted Irons. "We are not asking the Romulan Senate to disavow such authority. We are asking the Senate to admit that it can no longer pretend to have any such authority. Such an admission greatly improves your position in these negotiations and the long term stability of your current venture. You know you cannot control what the Romulan Star Navy does. By admitting to that in this treaty, you relieve the Senate of the consequences of treaty abrogation over actions by the Navy. The Navy simply is not party to this treaty and its actions are ungoverned by it, just as they are ultimately ungovernable by the Senate. It is always better to be truthful, Proconsul, even when the truth is uncomfortable."

"That would be an admission that the entire Romulan Star Navy constitutes an illegal government unto itself!" Vruncleel exclaimed.

"We both know that already to be the truth," Irons said, levelly. "But that is a separate problem from your current need to feed two billion romulan refugees along with an already extant population on Vulcan of close to three billion. Vulcan cannot sustain that many people without imports. And all the off-world colonies Vulcan previously relied on for such supplies have declared independence and either entered the UFP as members of the United Earth Governments or, in a few cases, as independent planetary governments. You are well aware that you cannot rely on supplies from the old empire – that is why you took Vulcan and relocated the refugees there in the first place. You can only survive with the assistance of the United Federation of Planets. You don't want that survival to be threatened by an independent military that has been beyond your control for more than a decade."

"If we were to cut off relations with the Navy, then we would be targeted for attack!" Proconsul Vruncleel stood up and started pacing.

"Then you have two realistic choices: Negotiate a formal relationship with the Navy, and develop a treaty acknowledging that neither has authority over the other…"

Vruncleel continued pacing for a few moments, then turned to Irons expectantly as she had fallen silent.

.

For a long moment they looked at each other. Finally, the young romulan broke the silence.

"You said we have two choices. What is the other one?"

Irons met his gaze, deliberately kept her voice even, cool, rational:

.

"Join the federation."

.

"Preposterous!" Vruncleel exclaimed. "The Senate would never even take that idea up. To give up our way of life…"

"Your way of life died with Romulus," Irons observed. "Your people have spent the last ten years as refugees inside what you once thought was your own empire. Your people are on Vulcan now. And when on Vulcan, you should at least consider doing as the vulcans do. Consider the possibilities. Do you prefer your people to be the rump outpost of a dying empire? Or a strong and vital partner within the only rising power in the Alpha Quadrant? Do you prefer to be beset by enemies on all sides – or surrounded by allies?"

"The federation can hardly be considered a rising power. Not with the Andorian Empire engulfed in civil war," Vruncleel said.

"Walk that pathetic rebellion in your mind through the next five years," suggested Irons. "Not that it will last that long. And project what the Andorian Empire will look like after it ends. Emperor Sin IV has already used a declaration of emergency to assimilate the three great house fleets, Shav, zh'Ithrith and th'Ravonette, into the Andorian Imperial Guard. Do you think he will give them back?"

Proconsul Vruncleel paused from his pacing, looked up suddenly, catching Justice Irons' gaze once again. His eyes widened.

Irons had just the faintest smile. "Play the long game, Proconsul. Your people are more like us than you realize. More like us than you are like those you left behind."

.  
17.9


	11. Ep 17x10: The Buzz

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 10: The Buzz  
.

17.10  
The Buzz  
.

The radio transmitter near the top of Mt. Kur at'la Kiur was extremely simple. It had two modes - on and off. The on position created a slight increase in static on a narrow band of radio channels - channels that already carried significant local static because of the volcano the transmitter was on top of.

The bajoran resistance had developed a number of unique code systems designed to make use of this kind of simple technology for very detailed messaging. While the available binary codes included an alphabet, the codes also included a large vocabulary of words and phrases tailored for intelligence gathering. Using these, very detailed reports could be generated and transmitted with a very small number of binary codes.

Pivin could activate the remote for this transmitter by tensing her right buttock for 30 seconds. This would cause a steady tone to be transmitted, alerting Pomm and Oarama Irons, listening inside the cloaked Prodigal Sum, that a message would follow. Pivin could then control the transmitter by flexing her right buttock, which she could do quite rapidly without being noticed, allowing her to send a very large amount of information in less than a minute.

.

"Have provided intelligence federation goal assimilate Romulan Senate," Pomm Irons translated. "Traced same to Romulan Star Navy Supreme Commander Sela. Same responsible for attack on Vulcan. Sela now in command of remainder of Tal Shiarr - weak. Imperial Intelligence Control strong influence on Romulan Senate. Tal Shiarr and IIC remain bitter rivals. Navy has discovered potential bio-weapon on Gamorlan. Creating labs to experiment contain local. Saketh enslaved innocent primary food source."

.

"What does all that mean?" Tactical Specialist Dasare Eba had transferred from the U.S.S. Hunter to the R.R.C. Prodigal Sum when the two craft had been clamped to a mined-out asteroid in the A Boo star system.

"Oarama and I have been running Pivin for nine years," said Pomm. "When you run a spy that long, you develop a kind of shorthand. She had to provide the romulans intelligence of some value to make her cover story stick. The romulans will soon be able to verify that the federation negotiators are trying to entice the Romulan Senate into joining the federation. But Pivin was able to trace where this information went to find out who is running things behind the scenes. The Romulan Senate and the Praetorian Guard definitely executed this operation, but the Romulan Star Navy is behind it. It goes all the way up to the navy's Supreme Commander, a romulan/human hybrid named Sela. Who knows what kind of pressure the navy brought to bear on the senate not only to take Vulcan, but to do it alone.

"The Romulan Star Navy can plead innocence and ignorance to the federation in the capture of Vulcan, and we can't prove they were behind it. But now we know they were," Pomm continued.

"She also told us that the Tal Shiarr are still operative and in rivalry with Imperial Intelligence Control," Oarama Irons added. "The Tal Shiarr – the military spy agency – are now fully under the control of the navy. Imperial Intelligence Control is a civilian spy agency and they report directly to the senate. Star Fleet Intelligence wasn't sure whether any of the Tal Shiarr structure had survived the Dominion War. Now we know the Tal Shiarr survived – through weakened and no longer a law unto themselves."

"Finally, she gave us a report on two worlds near the Dead Zone on the other side of romulan space," said Pomm. "Apparently the Romulan Star Navy has found something on Gamorlan that could be used as a biological weapon. Biological weapons are not difficult to make, so whatever they've found, it must be really nasty. They are setting up labs on the planet so they can contain it there until they figure out how to handle it. The other planet is Saketh. She is telling us Saketh has an indigenous pre-warp civilization. The navy has enslaved that population and is farming that world as a primary food source for the romulan colonies in the old empire. They're probably mining it for resources as well since they have a ready source of slaves."

.

Dasare was surprised. "That is a lot of information for such a short transmission. Are you certain?"

"We've known about Sela for quite some time," Oarama replied. "She's been clawing her way to the top of the navy for decades. A strategic thinker. She has gone far in a culture that despises hybrids. She is very good at what she does. And she hates humans."

"Okay… I will relay this information back to the Hunter."

"Are they within your telepathic range?" asked Oarama.

"Rumi selected us for, among other things, telepathic ability and range. I can't reach all the way to the Hunter, but Ranni is stationed about halfway in between in a shuttle, along with one of our pilots. She can relay the message on to Rumi, who will brief Justice Irons."

.  
17.10


	12. Ep 17x11: Planet of the Humans

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 11: Planet of the Humans  
.

17.11  
Planet of the Humans  
.

"So THAT's their game! Such naivety," Sela rubbed her hands together. "They sacrificed Vulcan in the hopes they could split the Romulan Senate from the Romulan Star Empire!" She stood up suddenly, started pacing. "No – there has to be more to their plan than that. It can't be that simple."

Sela was in her office on the I.R.W. Bestia. One-way windows (that appeared to be blank walls on the other side) allowed her to view the bridge and an adjoining conference room to one side and open space off the starboard bow of the battlegod to the other. Admiral Ekot, commander of the First Battle Group, had joined Sela in her office along with Commander Hundeeth, Sela's favorite analyst – on whom she had relied for decades.

"Let's go through this again," said Sela. "Hundeeth, you told me there have been no significant changes in the traffic patterns around Vulcan over the past two years."

Commander Hundeeth shook his head slowly. "Not the kind you might expect. But if you look over the past eleven years, starting with the destruction of Romulus, there are definite trends. The changes are incremental, but the cumulative change is very significant. Nearly 60% of commerce that had gone through Vulcan had been re-routed through Cun Ling over the past decade. Now that Vulcan has fallen, all commerce in that region goes through Cun Ling and that system still has excess capacity to handle an increase of 20% above that." Hundeeth took a breath. "Also, beginning about a decade ago, a large number of Vulcan artifacts have been removed. Some of them have been moved to new permanent installations on Earth or various Vulcan outposts. Others have become traveling exhibits. And I have the demographic estimates from Imperial Intelligence Control – we just received them."

"Federation demographics have become almost impossible to come by over the past 10 years," Sela observed. "Accurate demographics are the cornerstone of what they think of as a free society."

"This may be the reason they have made that information so difficult to obtain," said Hundeeth. "IIC estimates the population of Vulcan is now about two and a half billion, which falls about a half-billion short of our expectations. But the Internal Intelligence Control's population estimate indicates that there are less than a billion vulcans on Vulcan. Almost 800 million of the population is human and the remainder, nearly a billion, are hybrids, with a very large number of children."

Sela and Admiral Ekot looked shocked. "Who knew there were so many?" Ekot asked.

"Where have all the vulcans gone?" asked Sela.

Hundeeth took a deep breath. "Apparently they went to the colonies. They spread out all over the federation. But most of them probably went to Earth."

Admiral Ekot shook his head slowly. "They've been planning this for years... a decade..."

"My analysis indicates that they started building this trap only a few months after the destruction of Romulus," said Hundeeth.

.

"Humans!" Sela exclaimed. "We thought we were taking the bulk of the vulcan population. We didn't even get half of them! What we got was a planet full of humans! Always turning up when you least expect them!"

"Should we encourage the Senate to join the federation?" asked Admiral Ekot.

"That is a very good question, Admiral," Sela replied. "If we had almost all the vulcan population, we could refuse - well - instruct the Senate to refuse. The federation would not risk the vulcan species. But we don't have enough of them to pose an existential threat to the vulcans. The federation might refuse food aid, which they would not refuse to a member world. And membership carries other advantages. Romulans would eventually have to be allowed to serve openly in Star Fleet."

"But there is a real risk they could turn Senate," Ekot mused.

"A far more real risk, given all the humans on that planet," Sela said. "The vulcans are far more human now than we had realized. And the refugees from Romulus are much, much softer than the rest of the empire – more vulnerable because they've never been allowed to settle down anywhere for the past decade. They're still stalwart enough that vulcans couldn't turn them. But humans just might."

"You seem to give the humans much credit," said Ekot.

"The humans built the federation founded on a coalition with the Vulcan High Command and the Andorian Empire – historic enemies," Sela replied. "Humans managed to forge an alliance with the Klingon Empire – in a thousand years of space flight, the klingons never had allies before. The humans fought off the borg three times, chased the Dominion back into the Gamma Quadrant and helped reinvent the Cardassian Empire in their own image. And just in the past few weeks they have broken the backbone of the orion slaving syndicate and dealt a devastating blow to the Nausicaan Collective. It is very, very foolish to underestimate them."

.  
17.11


	13. Ep 17x12: Yuri's Park

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 12: Yuri's Park  
.

17.12  
Yuri's Park  
.

Yuri Gagarin Memorial Park, on board the U.S.S. Milky Way, was so spacious it felt like being outdoors in a small town. The park was ringed with storefronts. A bicycle path wound through a grove of trees – the tallest of these reaching up nearly 25' to the top of the dome. In addition to the trees, evergreen shrubbery and other temperate zone plants filled the park, along with well-tended grasses.

Day and night were synchronized with sunrise and sunset in Dubuque, Iowa, as was the weather to coincide with the weather at Star Fleet Headquarters. It was an unusually warm April in Dubuque, and light showers had passed through Yuri Gagarin Park in the middle of the Milky Way's saucer section, leaving a light mist on the large bronze statue of the first man launched into space.

Night was just falling in Dubuque and the lights in Yuri's park were dimming. More than 5,000 chairs had been set up facing a stage that had been erected in front of Yuri's statue. Viewscreens in the dome, covering the storefronts, and in the floor displayed space outside the U.S.S. Milky Way, including the five Praetorian Guard Warbirds, and, behind two of these, the bright ribbon and glowing center of the U.S.S. Milky Way's namesake.

Thousands of romulans, humans, vulcans and members of various other federation species were mingling and finding their way to the chairs along with a small number of klingons - official observers from the Klingon Empire. On the stage was a massive set of drums and gongs of various sizes and composition (many of them enormous) along with several stands containing hundreds of sticks, mallets and hammers. A monstrous gong was set up at the back of the audience.

The U.S.S. Hunter's giant first officer, Commander David Pepper, stepped in front of the stage and cleared his throat. There was an ambient breath as the communicator embedded in his chest connected with the comm system aboard not only the U.S.S. Milky Way, but all of the other vessels in the vicinity. This program was being broadcast and viewed throughout all of the ships gathered in the détente zone.

.

"All of you must be exhausted," Pep said. "Two weeks of negotiations followed by cultural events every night celebrating different aspects of romulan and federation cultures. Speaking strictly for myself, and as a student of culture, I have learned more about romulan culture in the past two weeks than all my years before. I never realized what accomplished dancers romulans are, nor appreciated the subtly of your many dance forms. Watching romulans learning and mastering the Charleston in a single night and waltzing effortlessly with Star Fleet officers has to be one of the highlights of my existence."

"But tonight, on the eve of proposing the terms of a new relationship between our people, we have a special treat," Pep continued. "My young friend and shipmate, K'rok, has become an accomplished Thomborou drummer, an ancient klingon art form rarely witnessed on this side of the klingon border."

.

Transporter Engineer K'rok, clad in traditional klingon armor, leapt onto the stage with a shout. Even in the bulky armor, he was an unusually small and slender man, built like a whip. His features were quite evidently a blend of klingon and human. His skin was almost black – a gift from his ancestors from southern India. A low growl began somewhere deep in the young man's throat, growing into a shout. The volume and power of the voice coming from his slight frame was astonishing.

Several of the romulan delegation had been quite offended that a klingon cultural event was not only part of the schedule, but was the final program on the eve of the announcement of the proposed terms. Their outrage was transformed first into fear, then wonder as K'rok lifted an enormous hammer with both hands and, counterbalancing with his entire body weight, spun in circles, building momentum before releasing the hammer with a shout to fly high over the audience and strike the gigantic gong behind them. The hammer dropped onto a collection of cymbals, adding their crashing to the deep resonance of the gong. This was the beginning of an extremely athletic routine that involved the young engineer leaping across the stage, striking various drums with sticks or mallets – hurling mallets at other drums and gongs and keeping up a thunderous, pounding rhythm…

.

In a freezing andorian courtroom in Laikan, Vulcan Premiere Saoron was brought in, decked in chains and flanked by andorian guards, to hear formal charges recited by a white-robed andorian judge. His advocate, an andorian lawyer from House th'Ravonnette, formally and carefully contested each charge on legal grounds. The tiny, ancient vulcan, dwarfed by his guards, watched and listened alertly. Because he was bald, the subtle movements of his large, pointed ears could be seen as they twitched and turned slightly to catch different threads of conversation…

.

K'rok bounced a dozen mallets off drums on various parts of the stage, catching each mallet as it returned to him and sending it toward a different drum in a pattern so long it was difficult to track – the rhythm changing with the distance between his hands and each drum and emphasized with shouts. Few in the audience were able to keep up with this enormously complex mallet-juggling rhythm, but a number of klingons, scattered throughout the audience could, and, along with Pep, added their shouts in unison with K'rok to emphasize the hypnotic, swirling rhythm…

.

Near Vulcan, in the flight cabin and primary workroom of the cloaked Prodigal Sum, Pomm Irons took a deep breath as information suddenly flooded onto his screens – a massive upload from Pivin. His eyes widened. "Oh… oh no…"

"This is amazing," enthused Tactical Specialist Dasare Eba. "The names, commanders and crew complements of each Praetorian Guard Warbird, specifications for the Romulan Star Navy's new Battlegods – those ships are even bigger than the U.S.S. Milky Way! Regional Proconsuls, Senators, their aides, estimates of personal weaknesses for each by the Imperial Intelligence Control… she found the gold mine…" Dasare's excitement waned as she first felt, then saw the grief-stricken expressions on Pomm and Oarama Irons. "What is it?"

"That's a direct feed," said Pomm. "She's running out the clock..."

"She's been made…" Oarama caught her breath, tears starting in her eyes. Pomm took her hand in both of his as she said, "It's just a matter of time…"

.

Hissing sounds had been growing as K'rok changed to a simple, driving rhythm, emphasized each time he landed at the largest drum at the back of the stage – he slammed this drum three times with giant mallets each time he landed near it. His leaps took him from one side of the stage to another, up one level to play tuned bells that could only be reached when he stood on the drums below them. He finally stopped at the giant back drum and repeated the simple three slam, pause, triple slam, pause…

.

Alone in his office in Nairobi, Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic, wearing a pair of reading glasses, was surrounded by notebooks filled with actual paper, scrawling notes with an actual pen, using highlighters as he struggled through mountains of paperwork. His previously meticulously clean office was now awash in paper. The only space that wasn't covered with paper was an antique card catalogue with 16 drawers. Emory highlighted something in one of the notebooks, then made identical notes on three separate cards and filed them carefully in three different drawers of the antique, mahogany card catalogue.

Ivonovic leaned back in his executive chair, set his glasses aside, took a long drink of ice water, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, then sat back up, hunted around for his glasses, donned them and picked up and opened another notebook…

.

It was only at this point in K'rok's performance that the audience realized the program included fireworks. Rockets whizzed above the heads of the audience, emitting bright balls of brilliant yellowish lights that somehow hovered in mid-air, well above the heads of the audience. K'rok's simple, pounding, thunderous rhythm grew more and more insistent as more and more drums and gongs on the stage resonated with his pounding on the big drum in back. He emphasized this rhythm with shouts that were taken up not only by Pep and the klingons, but by a growing number of audience members. Even vulcans and romulans were now adding their voices to the performance…

.

Piven the Betrayer sat strapped to a chair, entirely immobilized. She could only moan in fear around the gag in her mouth. Her right arm was stretched out on a cold, steel table, strapped down in several places. A block held her fingers up so she could not clench her right hand. Bright lights burned down on her. She could barely see the masked figures hovering around her until one of them stepped into the light at her side and raised a massive butcher knife. The knife came down hard and fast and she screamed in terror and agony…

.  
.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The brilliant lights hovering above the audience in Yuri Gagarin Memorial Park on the U.S.S. Milky Way suddenly exploded – each with a deafening roar – startling most of the audience members out of their wits – but exploding in rhythm as K'rok slammed two enormous drums together – that same pounding 1, 2, 3, (silent 1, 2, 3,) over and over. More rockets launched more lights and they began exploding in groups – even louder – until there was a massive explosion and lights throughout the park suddenly flared brightly and went dark. Sudden, complete silence gripped the park. Only gradually, as their ears recovered from this assault and their eyes adjusted to the starlight all around them, the audience realized that every drum and every bell was still vibrating – at different frequencies, creating a shimmering sound that transcended their hearing range from top to bottom – keeping them hushed in awe as the sound gradually faded to true silence.

The eruption of applause and cheering in various forms was irrepressible. It was only at this point when the stage lights came back up that they could see how hard K'rok was breathing, his dark, nearly black skin coated with sweat.

.  
17.12


	14. Ep 17x13: The 14 Points

**Star Trek Hunter  
**Episode 17: Terms of Surrender  
Scene 13: The 14 Points of the Treaty of Yuri Gagarin Memorial Park  
.

17.13  
The 14 Points of the Treaty of Yuri Gagarin Memorial Park  
.

1\. The Vulcan High Command relinquishes all claim to authority over the Planet Vulcan, its resources, its inhabitants and its star system according to the procedures set out in Section 1 of these Terms of Surrender.

Imperial Romulan Senate is reorganized as the Republican Senate of New Romulus on Vulcan (hereinafter referred to as the Senate) and will represent all of the peoples of the Planet Vulcan according to the procedures set out in Section 2 of these Terms of Surrender.

3\. The Senate relinquishes all claim to authority over the former colonies and possessions of the Vulcan High Command that are located outside of the Vulcan star system according to the procedures set out in Section 3 of these Terms of Surrender.

4\. The Senate will negotiate a separate agreement with the Imperial Romulan Star Navy (hereinafter referred to as the Navy), officially transferring authority over the Romulan Star Empire from the Senate to the Navy until such time as the Navy can organize a civilian government for the empire according to the procedures set out in Section 4 of these Terms of Surrender.

5\. The Senate relinquishes all claim to authority over the Romulan Star Empire, its resources, its inhabitants and its star systems according to the procedures set out in Section 5 of these Terms of Surrender.

6\. The Senate will provide full access to study groups from the United Federation of Planets (hereinafter referred to as the UFP) to determine the conditions and needs of the people of Vulcan according to the procedures set out in Section 6 of these Terms of Surrender.

7\. The UFP will provide vital survival and economic assistance to sustain the lives and stabilize the lifestyles of the people of Vulcan according to the procedures set out in Section 7 of these Terms of Surrender.

8\. The Praetorian Guard and all other vessels under the control of the Senate will maintain a peacetime footing and will not take aggressive action of any sort against vessels, planets, people and other assets belonging to the UFP or the people of Vulcan and will travel at all times decloaked while in UFP space according to the procedures set out in Section 8 of these Terms of Surrender.

9\. The Senate will enumerate, respect and enforce the individual rights of the people of Vulcan for the purposes of legal and political representation and enjoyment of their private lives and private property according to the procedures set out in Section 9 of these Terms of Surrender.

10\. The Senate will reorganize within 6 Vulcan solar years to hold new elections in which each person on Vulcan of age, regardless of their species, will have one vote - one person, one vote - according to the procedures set out in Section 10 of these Terms of Surrender.

11\. The Senate will, within 2 Vulcan solar years, apply for membership within the UFP following the procedures set out in the Federation Charter and Section 11 of these Terms of Surrender.

12\. Until Vulcan is accepted into the UFP, the UFP relinquishes all claim to authority over the Planet Vulcan, its resources, its inhabitants and its star system according to the procedures set out in Section 12 of these Terms of Surrender.

13\. The Senate and the UFP will negotiate trade in goods, services and technology in good faith according to the procedures set out in Section 13 of these Terms of Surrender.

14\. The Senate and all of its military forces and governmental bodies will respect and will affirmatively protect the right of pre-warp civilizations to live without interference by advanced, space faring cultures according to the procedures set out in Section 14 of these Terms of Surrender.

.  
17 – Terms of Surrender


End file.
